It is sad that there are what you might call professional Catholics who make a living on their Catholicism, but in whom the spring of faith flows only faintly, in a few scattered drops. We must really make an effort to change this.
Celibacy is always, shall we say, an affront to what man normally thinks. It is something that can be done, and is only credible, if there is a God and if celibacy is my doorway into the kingdom of God.
Assuredly, the word of truth can be painful and uncomfortable. But it is the way to holiness, to peace, and to inner freedom. A pastoral approach which truly wants to help the people concerned must always be grounded in the truth. In the end, only the truth can be pastoral.
No one is forced to be a Christian. But no one should be forced to live according to the "new religion" as though it alone were definitive and obligatory for all mankind.
In the name of tolerance, tolerance is being abolished; this is a real threat we face.
Lest anyone think that I am alone in bemoaning the attempts of some to create a false dichotomy between evangelisation and proselitysm - and I would in many cases argue, a false distinction altogether -, Steve Skojec makes a similar point:
The story that Pope Benedict resigned because he could not travel by plane certainly has a lot of legs left in it. Without a doubt it will occupy theologians for a long time to come.
Distinctions Matter
Distinctions Matter Forward
Missale Romanum
Pre-1951 Calendar